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Charter Spectrum's Apple TV App and Zero Sign-on May Not Arrive Until 2019

Tuesday December 18, 2018 12:24 pm PST by Juli Clover
When tvOS 12 was introduced back in June of 2018, Apple announced a new Zero Sign-on feature, a followup to Single sign-on. Zero Sign-on is designed to let you sign into all TV apps automatically when connected to your TV provider's broadband.

At the same time, Apple said the feature would first work with Charter Spectrum, with support expected to be implemented "later this year," aka some point before December 31, 2018. Charter Spectrum is expected to debut a new Apple TV app that will enable the feature and allow Charter Spectrum subscribers to watch cable content on the Apple TV.


It looks like the rollout of the Charter Spectrum app and the Zero sign-on feature is not going to make that deadline, as Apple today updated its Apple TV 4K page to change some of the wording to reflect the delay.

Rather than stating that Charter Spectrum cable subscribers will be able to watch live channels and on-demand programs with Apple TV "later this year," the page now says that the feature is "coming soon."

Prior to today's wording change: "And later this year, Charter Spectrum cable customers can watch live channels and thousands of on-demand programs with Apple TV."

After the wording change: "And coming soon, Charter Spectrum cable customers can watch live channels and thousands of on-demand programs with Apple TV."

That Apple has swapped "coming soon" for "later this year" suggests the Charter Spectrum app and the Zero Sign-on feature will be coming sometime after 2018, perhaps early in 2019.

Related Roundups: Apple TV, tvOS 12, tvOS 13
Tag: Apple TV Guide
Buyer's Guide: Apple TV (Don't Buy)
[ 57 comments ]


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bbednarz
27 weeks ago
I understand Apple hating is the cool thing to do around here... But doesn't Charter likely play a large role in this? Have we really begun disliking Apple so much that they are higher on the s**t list than the cable providers??
Rating: 4 Votes
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Dominicanyor
27 weeks ago
Big companies should not announce things unless they’re actually going to make it happen when they say it will be..
Rating: 3 Votes
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JTR555
27 weeks ago
Another deadline missed by Apple (let’s not forget the long promised charging pad for the iPhone, Apple Watch, and Air Pods). Steve Jobs would have had people’s heads for that.
Rating: 3 Votes
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ChrisMoBro
27 weeks ago
Apple needs to go back to their old ways where they wouldn’t announce something until it was ready. Far too many things have slipped behind schedule or disappeared completely (AirPower anyone?). Also, it doesn’t fill me with confidence that they announced the new MacPro and released a load of information and then have been completely silent ever since. If you want to prevent more professionals from abandoning your platform then either keep it quiet or keep us updated. Don’t just announce it and then keep us in the dark.
Rating: 2 Votes
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steve333
27 weeks ago
Spectrum is garbage. They started ripping us off the second they took over Time Warner
Rating: 2 Votes
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brian3uk
27 weeks ago
No surprise here. Spectrum is garbage. When they took over Brighthouse everything got worse. I even asked the FCC to get involved because my bill was so bad. Bring back regulation.
Rating: 2 Votes
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busyscott
27 weeks ago
Man, they’re completely ruining any credibility they had left. So short-sited, I predict this will be an underlying issue at the company for years that will be very hard to repair.
Rating: 2 Votes
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IngerMan
27 weeks ago
I just cut the TV cable line from Spectrum, I got tired of being ripped off. Too many streaming providers with live local stations for much less cost. I am running Hulu live off the $35 4k fire stick. I had an original apple TV but I can't justify the cost for the new one compared to the competition prices.
Rating: 2 Votes
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Braderunner
27 weeks ago
Well, then...Charter Spectrum can count me out as a video subscriber until at least then.
But, probably for longer than that. I cannot stand to watch live tv. Commercial, after commercial, after......
The current tv model has a looooong way to go.
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Probably Spectrum. Apple is not creating apps for them.

Don't forget about the networks, that OVERvalue their programming. Even when it is good, they ruin it with commercials. It used to be, they either got their revenue from commercials, or subscribers. Then, they thought, "Why not both"?
That is how companies like Netflix are changing things.
However, the old people on the board of these companies (networks and providers) are going to cling to the old model for as long as they can...then retire. Until then...:( :rolleyes:
Rating: 2 Votes
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rworne
27 weeks ago

This isn't (completely) Apple's fault, so I don't know why anyone is saying that.

While I can't remember where I saw it, either here or on Reddit, someone had said that support for this feature within Charter had fallen to near-zero in favor of Altice's own in-home solution. Altice is trying to get the same box across all their new cable system acquisitions and this is obviously a "threat" to that.


I think it's because someone at Charter suddenly realized they forgot to charge a fee for this. They get $11.99/mo per tuner box in rental fees. Why should they support a free solution? I remember their iPhone/iPad app, and how they went through great lengths to kill of HDMI and Airplay capability because they could not stand the idea of having people watch TV on their TV.

This isn't the first time Apple gets screwed over by another company. I remember the AT&T fiasco over the $20 unlimited data plans for the iPad. That lasted all of a month and a half before they killed it off.
Rating: 1 Votes

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